An Exercise in Elaboration
by turbomagnus
Summary: A series of shorts expanding on moments during and relating to Star Trek Online.
1. Into The Breach - Fed

Disclaimer: Star Trek and all associated characters and situations are the property of CBS studios, Star Trek Online is the creation of Cryptic and Perfect World, all are used by myself for entertainment purposes without permission or intent to profit.

Author's Note: I meant to post this during the Three-Year Anniversary, but unfortunately got caught up in moving. Sorry.

Timeframe: Between the Federation Tutorial Missions "Khitomer Crisis" and "Price of Liberty".  
Character: Male Federation Tactical

* * *

"Into The Breach"  
By J.T. Magnus, 'Turbo'

* * *

Standing behind the Captain's Chair, the Ensign looked around the bridge; all the other stations were now manned by enlisted crewmen and non-commissioned officers, the highest ranking of them being the Chief Petty Officer manning Tactical, and he himself was now the highest ranking surviving member of the ship's complement.

"Captain, orders?"

Captain by title, not by rank. The Ensign had never wanted to be a Captain, command a ship, he was a security officer, the closest he could come to continuing the family tradition of law enforcement service in the mostly-peaceful Federation... But he was now the ranking officer, the only survivng officer, which meant he was in command of the ship, and the truth was that he had no idea what to do.

"Sir." the crewman at the Conn station said, insistantly.

A saying his grandfather was fond of came to his mind, 'better to do something constructive now than something perfect when it's too late'.

The Ensign sighed quietly and put his hands on the back of the Big Chair, "Evacuate the compromised decks, reroute life support from those decks to whatever systems need the extra power..."

He spun the chair around and sat down in it, "Set course for the rally point..."

"Course set."

Turning the chair back to face the main viewer, he sighed again, "Shields up, weapons hot..."

"Shields up, Aye. Weapons hot, Sir," the CPO announced."

The Officer Commanding leaned forward, one forearm resting on the same-side knee, the other hand on the arm of the chair, whispering, "Once more into the breach, Dear Friends, once more, or close the wall up with our English dead... Red Alert, take us in on an attack vector."

"And pray this does not turn into another 'royal fellowship of death'," he added to himself in a whisper.

The Crewman manning the Science console overheard and added silently, 'Amen.'


	2. In Summation - Fed

Disclaimer: Star Trek is the property of Gene Roddenberry Productions and CBS Television, Star Trek Online was created by Cryptic and Perfect World Entertainment. I don't own the park, I just play in the sandbox.

Timeframe: Modern Day  
Character: Male Federation

* * *

"In Summation"  
By J.T. Magnus, 'Turbo'

* * *

"This is no time to worry about the timeline, we don't have the time!" - Deanna Troi, 'First Contact'

* * *

San Francisco, California,  
United States of America,  
planet Earth, Sol system  
2012 human Gregorian calendar, April 5th.

Daniels stood on Alcatraz Island, looking across the bay towards the place where he knew that, in the proper timelines, Starfleet Academy would be built in the future, "Are you sure?"

"This is quantum variations in temporal mechanics," the man standing next to him remarked, "There's no such thing as 'sure'. I was there when K'Valk informed Starfleet that the Nah'kul were still active, leading B'Vat to that Planet Killer... how many of those does that make, anyway?"

"I think one per century; the one B'Vat tried to use, the one Kirk destroyed and some records show Picard's _Enterprise_ also facing one, though other records show no trace of the incident."

"Interesting. As I was saying, when we learned the Nah'kul were still active, when the Iconians captured Sela, when the Tholians interfered with the return of the Enterprise-C, when Starfleet discovered the Iconian manipulations of the Undine... Undine, isn't that also the name of an ancient Terran water spirit?"

"You'd know that better than I would," Daniels observed, "As you said, you were there."

"The Tal Shiar was behind Hobus, the Iconians are behind the Tal Shiar..."

"And Nero?"

"We're still looking for information whether he's Tal Shiar-alligned or merely a tool they used, but the fact that some of the modifications to _Narada_ match the Assimilated-Romulan technology found in the Vault and on Haakon's ships is reason to believe that the Tal Shiar were behind his actions and if the Tal Shiar were behind his actions, then the Iconians were behind them."

"I don't think he was Tal Shiar himself, he blamed Vulcan and the Federation for Hobus - which means he didn't know, probably just a catspaw. I know I do, but do you ever miss the days when all we had to deal with were Sphere-Builders?"

"It's only the twenty-fifth century, relatively speaking, you've still got another two hundred years and... G, H, I... Four _Enterprises_ left, not counting the one active right now. But I understand what you mean; Undine shapeshifters; Dominion forces temporally displaced by the wormhole thinking the war's still on; time traveling Borg, Klingons, Devidians; let's not forget Iconians, Tholians and the Terran Empire; the Sphere Builders are always a threat, the Nah'kul are regaining their strength... You know what all this means?"

"What does it mean to you?"

"That if nothing else, at least we have great job security."

Daniels gave the other man a look through narrowed eyes, "So what happens now?"

"To quote a Deferi of my acquaintance, 'All things in balance, all things in time'."

"And time," Daniels agreed with a nod, "is something we're quite familiar with, isn't it."

"Relativitively speaking," the other man agreed.


End file.
